


Why Are You Lying?

by SxDxB



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, M/M, young Fangs Fogarty, young Sweet Pea
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-09
Updated: 2019-07-09
Packaged: 2020-06-25 02:20:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,840
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19736380
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SxDxB/pseuds/SxDxB
Summary: "Why are you lying to me?""I'm not.""Bullshit."





	1. Chapter 1

_They were in sixth grade at the time, and they had been friends about a year now.Despite the short amount of time they had known each other- it had felt like they had known each other forever._

_They met in the fifth grade when Fangs was being bullied by some of the other kids, out of nowhere came this raven haired boy, who said nothing before, punching one of the boys that had been teasing Fogarty. After scaring off the other two kids Sweet Pea offered his hand to a bruised up Fogarty. Fangs stared for a moment before he reached out and took the other boys hand- it was at that moment that he realized this boy was going to be his best friend._

_"You didn't have to do that." Fogarty said quietly._

_"You could just say 'thank you.' "Sweet Pea said as he rubbed his knuckles_ _._  
  
 _“Thank you.” Fangs brushed himself off._  
  
 _“You're welcome.” Sweet Pea glanced up from his aching knuckles._  
  
 _" 'M Fangs but you can call me Fogarty.” Fangs offered a hand out to Sweets._  
  
 _“Sweet Pea.” He shook Fangs hand._  
  
 _They were inseparable ever since._  
  
 _It wasn't until the sixth grade, when Fangs first saw Sweet Pea at his worst. Sweet Pea had been acting weird the past two weeks, Fangs had noticed some bruises, when Sweets long sleeves would accidentally move up his arms and at first he thought nothing of it.One day during math, when he couldn't figure something out,that was when he snapped for the first time. Sweet Pea got up,crumpled the paper up and threw it, he then flipped his chair before storming out of the room._

_The outburst startled everyone in the room including the teacher. Nobody else wanted to go after him, aside from their teacher. She couldn't find him. After a moment of awkward silence Fangs slowly raised his hand and asked to be excused. The teacher was hesitant but she allowed him to go to the 'bathroom.'_

_Sweet Pea and Fangs had a special place on the playground that they referred to as their secret place. Nobody else seemed to know about it, they were never bothered there. Their spot was exactly where Fangs found Sweet Pea,head hanging low, hands covering his face and it became very obvious to the other that his best friend was crying. Sweet Pea was tough, he didn't cry often or- he didn't let anyone see him cry._

_"S-Sweet Pea?"Fangs said softly as he carefully approached the other._

_"Leave me alone."Sweet Pea's voice was shaky and he kept his head hung low even though he knew it was just Fangs._

_He couldn't just leave his best friend like this,Fangs decided to ignore Sweet Pea's request and instead took a seat right beside him. For a moment he was quiet, listening to Sweet Pea trying to pull himself together._

_"I said leave me alone Fogarty."Sweets said angrily._

_"Your angry tone doesn't scare me Sweet Pea.." Arching an eyebrow Fangs looked toward him."If this is 'bout the math work, i can help you out.."he offered._

_Sweet Pea struggled in certain subjects and it was a little funny, the subjects that Sweets was weak in were more of Fangs strengths and vice versa. They helped one another out- balanced one another._

_"We can work on it at my place if you want to? Ya know go our own spee-"_

_"It's not about the math." Sweets cut him off._

_"Well,what's it about?" Fogarty tilted his head._

_"Nothing. Don't worry about it." Finally Sweets put his head up, fingers wiping away any stray tears._

_Fogarty watched his best friend closely, it broke his heart seeing Sweet Pea so sad._

_"Nothing? You call storming out of class nothing?"Fogarty looked confused._

_"Don't worry about it Fogarty, i'm fine."_

_Fangs narrowed his eyes at his best friend, he could tell there was something that Sweet Pea wasn't telling him. Knowing Sweets as well as Fangs did, he knew better than to believe this 'tough guy' act._

_"Why are you lying to me?"_

_"I'm not."_

_"Bullshit."_

_Sweet Pea looked at Fangs who had this almost challenging look on his face,he cocked an eyebrow as if daring Sweets to try and lie to his face. Sweet Pea frowned and shook his head as he tried to find the words,but, all he could manage was:_

_"Please.."_

_The tears started to spill again and Fogarty instantly wrapped his arm around Sweet Pea's shoulder, pulling him into a half hug as he rubbed his shoulder._

_"Talk to me."Fogarty whispered. "What's been goin' on with you lately?"_

_Sweet Pea struggled to pull himself together in attempt to explain things. After a couple of minutes of uncontrollable sobbing he managed to pull himself together._

_"I don't know what I did to make him so mad." Sweets said vaguely._

_"To make who so mad?"Fogarty asked._

_"M-my uncle." Sweet Pea wiped his tears away with the sleeve of his hoodie._

_Sweet Pea's parents were m.i.a which left him with this barely there uncle that child services had placed him with, he was related and that seemed to be a good enough reason to stick him with the man he barely knew. Fangs held Sweet Pea close still gently rubbing his shoulder as Sweet Pea slowly pulled himself together._

_"He was mad at you?" Fangs asked._

_"He's always mad at me.."Sweet Pea admitted."I don't think he wants me there."_

_"Don't say that, of course he does."_

_Fangs was trying to be comforting and he came from a more loving family, despite his father not being around. Fangs had his mom and a few siblings, there was plenty of love there._  
  
 _"N-no, he doesn't Fangs, he doesn't wa-want me." Sweet Pea choked out as he felt more tears beginning to well up. Once again he used his sleeve to wipe away the tears._

_Fangs frowned as he watched Sweet Pea closely and suddenly it hit him, the long sleeves and his focus being elsewhere all the time. It was a breaking point that had been a long time coming, Fangs was disappointed in himself for not seeing this sooner. Fogarty had been over at Sweets place before, he remembered how that man had been, he recalled how mad he was that Sweet Pea brought him over without saying anything._

_"D-does he hit you Sweet Pea?" Fangs asked after a moment of silence._

_There was more silence as Sweet Pea sat up and started to play with the sleeves of his hoodie, he didn't look at Fangs. Sweets was distant._

_"Sweet Pea.."Fangs shifted so he was facing his best friend fully._

_Brown hues slowly glanced toward Fangs, they were full of sadness, hurt, anger and fear all at once._

_"I dunno what you're talking about Fogarty."Sweet Pea's gaze dropped to his hands._

_"Bullshit."Fogarty said as his gaze followed Sweet Pea's._

_Fangs took ahold of Sweets hand, Sweet Pea pulled his hand away, Fangs grabbed his hand again and pushed his sleeve up. Fading bruises that still lingered. Fangs looked from Sweets arm to his face and then grabbed his other hand pushed that sleeve up to reveal more bruises, these ones looked newer._

_"That explains why you don't like being touched." Fangs said slowly as Sweet Pea pulled his arms from Fangs grasp, he quickly pulled his sleeves down._

_"You can't tell anybody Fogarty.."_

_"But, Sweet pea, we can ge-"_

_"Nobody finds out."Sweet Pea said firmly."Promise me."_

_Fangs frowned as he looked at Sweet Pea's pinkie, he bit his lower lip in thought._

_"Fogarty! Promise me."_

_Fangs took in a deep breath before finally wrapping his pinkie around Sweet Pea's- a pinkie promise to seal their deal. A secret to take to the grave. It didn't sit well with Fangs but this was his best friend and he'd do anything for him- even if it meant keeping this secret._

_\------------------------------------------------------_


	2. Chapter 2

They were sophomores in high school now. Sweet Pea had been living on his own since the eighth grade, he joined this gang called the southside serpents,they became his family. Shortly after his best friend joined the serpents. Which is around the time they also met Toni Topaz. Things were okay. They attended southside high school and they were all one another had in the world.

"Have you seen Fogarty?" Sweet Pea asked one day at lunch.

"He left about five minutes ago."The pink haired serpette said.

"Did he tell you where he was going?" Sweets asked.

"No, he just stormed off."She explained."I figured he might want his space, he hasn't been acting like his usual self lately. Do you think something's wrong?"

"I don't know.."Sweet Pea trailed off, he thought of one place that Fangs might be and he decided to go check it out.

Sweet Pea looked around one of their hangout spots and paused as he Saw his best friend hugging his knees to his chest, head resting on his arms, soft sobs could be heard.

"Fogarty?" Sweet Pea said softly as he walked over to him.

"Go away Sweet Pea."

"Talk to me.." Sweet Pea sat beside him gently nudging his best friend, he knew what was going on at home and he knew that Fogarty's mom's boyfriend was an asshole.

He had been there before when an argument broke out, he had been there when Fogarty showed up at his trailer door bruised and soaking wet from the rain. It was like sixth grade all over again, but this time the roles were reversed and the man wasn't blood related.

When Fogarty showed up at Sweets trailer, it was almost like the two times Sweet Pea had showed up at the Fogarty's place in seventh and eighth grade. Bruised and when it really got bad in eighth grade, before Sweets took off on his own- he had shown up bruised and bloody. It scared the shit out of Fangs little sister who had been the one to open the door that night.

"Fogarty,talk to me man."

"I'm tired."Fangs looked at his best friend and sure enough he looked exhausted.

"So am I.."Sweet Pea shrugged.

"No, Sweets, I'm tired."Fogarty stressed tired."I can't keep doing this shit.." Sweet Pea frowned as he realized what Fangs was saying.

"You can't quit on me Fogarty."

"I just can't fuckin' do this anymore." Shaking his head, Fangs ran his fingers through his hair gripping the short strands. 

Sweet Pea looked over his best friend for a moment. "He hit you again?"

Fogarty slowly nodded before rubbing his face."He was going after my mom, the hell was i supposed to do?" Sweet Pea wrapped an arm around Fangs shoulder and squeezed him gently. "You don't have to explain it to me."Sweets said."I've been there."

"I know, i'm fuckin exhausted Sweet Pea. I dunno what else to do."

"You're not- Fogarty you're not thinking what i think you're thinking.. Right?" Sweet Pea's voice was soft and laced with concern."Because you can't do that Fogarty." Resting his head against Fangs he continued. "Can't just bail on me like that."

"I'm not."Fangs shifted to look at Sweet pea. "You're the only thing keeping me grounded." Sweet Pea met Fangs gaze and gently brushed away his tears. "You leave, I leave. That's how this works."Sweet Pea said firmly. It was a pact they had made in the seventh grade. Back then it wasn't as dark as it seemed to be now.

They skipped the rest of their classes that day and went to hang out somewhere else, to get their minds off the shit they were dealing with.

\------------------------------------One Week Later--------------------------

Sweet Pea wasn't there when it started, he and fangs had made plans to hang out earlier that day;Fangs had told him there was something he wanted to tell him. Before Sweet Pea even made it up to the door he could hear yelling, it upset him that this guy and his best friend were fighting. Sweets was used to just walking in, ignoring the guy and going directly to Fangs room. At first he figured it'd fizzle out, so, he figured he'll just wait right there. But that's not what happened. 

On the other side of that door the yelling got louder,Sweet Pea was able to make out what was being said and while he had always had a hunch that his best friend wasn't entirely straight, he never once assumed anything. Sweets figured when Fogarty was ready he would tell him. Sweet Pea realized that Ms.Fogarty wasn't home which most likely meant that neither were Fangs siblings, Bryce wasn't a nice guy. Sweet Pea had seen the things he had done to Fangs before. 

"YOU BETTER PACK A FUCKIN' BAG, YOU'RE NOT STAYIN HERE."Bryce yelled.

"YOU CAN'T KICK ME OUT OF MY MOM'S PLACE DIPSHIT."Fangs yelled back.

The next thing Sweet Pea heard was some glass shattering and then what sounded like Fangs trying to get Bryce off of him.Sweet Pea opened the door to see the place looking like a tornado had hit, there was glass shattered and papers all over,a broken table and then just in front of the couch was Bryce beating the shit out of Fangs. Sweet Pea didn't even think about it, he simply acted. 

"GET YOUR FUCKIN' HANDS OFF OF HIM."Sweet Pea shouted at him, he grabbed Bryce, pulling him off of Fangs.

Bryce caught his balance and then aimed his assault at Sweet Pea, he shoved the boy hard. Sweet Pea tripped over the coffee table and landed on his back, he moved back until he hit the wall,By now, Bryce had his belt in hand- he whipped Sweet Pea with it. Sweet Pea yelped and whimpered as he tried to get away from him.Fangs got up and tackled Bryce without so much as a word. Fangs fought pretty well, but, Bryce was twice his size and a lot stronger. Sweet Pea tackled Bryce off of Fangs and the next thing either of them knew, Fp Jones was in the trailer breaking up the fight. 

"What the hell is going on in here?" Fp shouted.

"This piece of shit was beating Fangs."Sweet Pea panted as he wiped the blood from his lip.

"Fogarty?"Fp didn't have to ask, he could tell by how roughed up the kid was.

Fangs was quiet from his place, his lower lip was bleeding and his body was starting ache already."Yeah." He said after a minute.

"Let's go."Fp pulled the guy up and took him outside. They must've been pretty loud if the Serpent king was getting involved in this. Ms.Fogarty wouldn't say it to anyone else, she was a strong woman and she didn't think she needed help. She would be happy he was finally gone.

"Are you okay?"Sweet Pea asked.

" 'm fine." Fangs ran his fingers through his hair."Are you?"Brown hues turned toward the taller boy.

"Fogarty, i'm good."He paused."What the hell was all of that about?" 

"Told him to fuck off.."Fangs shrugged.

"Fangs."Sweet Pea eyed his best friend, there was something more that he wasn't saying.

"I also told him i'm into dudes."Fangs shrugged and glanced away from his best friend.

There it was. Sweet Pea's face softened as he realized that in addition to Bryce being a piece of shit he was also homophobic. Fangs wasn't sure how Sweet Pea would take and after the hell that just broke loose, he didn''t know if he could handle the rejection.

"Fuck that asshole."Sweet Pea said as he put his hand on Fangs shoulder."You're pretty badass Fogarty."Sweet Pea gave his best friend a smile and squeezed his shoulder- he was letting him know that it was okay with him, he was happy that Fangs could finally be himself.

"You're okay with it?"Fangs asked looking at Sweets a little surprised.

"Okay with it?"Sweet Pea arched an eyebrow."Fogarty, i've kinda known that you weren't exactly straight, i was just waitin' for you to be ready." 

"So you knew?"

"Not exactly, it was a hunch, that just happened to be right."Sweet Pea explained.

"No matter what you identify as, I love you, for you." Sweet Pea said honestly. A pause followed as he hesitated."And I think now would probably be a good time for me to tell you that I'm Bi. I think i'm Bi anyways."Sweet Pea glanced down in thought.

Fangs smiled at his best friend before pulling him into a hug.

"And no matter what you like Sweets, I love you too."

They hugged one another a little tighter than they intended to, Fangs winced as they pulled apart.

"Shit, i'm sorry. Are you okay?" Sweet Pea asked.

Fangs nodded.

"I'll be fine Sweets." He reassured his best friend.


End file.
